Akeredolu's wife woos women for ACNONDO State Governor Olusegun Mimiko has called for institutionalisation of credible opinion poll to strengthen the nation's democracy, saying 'such non-biased exercise as credible surveys could act as deterrent to election rigging.'He spoke as Wife of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate, Mrs. Betty Akeredolu, canvassed the votes of Ilaje women and the Igbo community in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Council, for ACN in the forthcoming governorship election.Mimiko, who spoke in Akure while delivering his keynote address to a workshop on the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state, said: 'It is high time we copied the culture of advanced democracy in correctly predicting the outcome of an election even before polls' day.'He charged stakeholders at the workshop organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Inter-Party Relations, Senator Ben Obi, to encourage the process of conducting credible opinion surveys to pre-determine who will emerge winner in an election.According to Mimiko, who addressed an audience made up of his co-contestants from the other political parties, 'with a credible survey, we can predict the outcome of an election and it will be difficult for anybody to go against the wish of the majority of the people.'Obi, who assured the gathering of the non-partisanship of President Jonathan on the election, said the last July 14 governorship election in Edo State proved that Nigeria is on the path of election sanity.According to him, 'the President has vowed that he will never be party to election rigging. He knows that a free and fair election is the bedrock of participatory democracy.'Meanwhile, Mimiko has assured the people of the state of his determination to revive the ailing industries and establish more with a view to providing jobs for the people and boost the state economy at the same time.The governor, who was in Ose Local Council in continuation of his re-election campaign, assured the people of resuscitating the Ifon Ceramic Industry which had become comatose.Mimiko, who disclosed that steps had been taken to revive the moribund industry by his administration, added that foreign technical partners had started work on the project.According to a statement by the Director of Media, Publicity and Strategy of the Akeredolu Campaign Organisation, Idowu Ajanaku, the Ilaje women and Igbo community declared their support for ACN during the visit of Akeredolu's wife to Igbokoda.'Speaking at the occasion, the leader of the market women, Mrs. Lene, assured the ACN that the women will vote en masse for the party. After listening to the needs of the women and the Igbo community, Mrs. Akeredolu told the crowd of party supporters that the ACN-led administration will be the best ever in the history of the state. She assured them that the proposed government of Akeredolu and Dr. Paul Akintelure will be gender-friendly,' the statement read.
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